They might as well call it crack

I've been out in California this past week, relishing the sun and sand. Beach culture aside, there is one very exciting discovery Purple and I have made: The Coffee Bean and the Tea Leaf

Anyone who knows us also knows about SBF (Starbucks Fridays) which are our weekly ritual of going to Starbucks, getting coffee, and sitting/chatting for an hour or three. So, yes, we have a religion that revolves around Starbucks. We love Starbucks!

But this week, we discovered Coffee Bean and a whole new world opened up for us. In this particular part of California, there are two Coffee Beans and two Starbuckses in walking distance of each other; in both situations, the java joints are across the street from one other in a perpetual corporate coffee face-off. Not once since we arrived in CA have we been to Starbucks.

Instead, we have enjoyed daily Hazelnut Lattes and IceBlended Mochas while we watch people along the Strand and listen to the crash of the Pacific. And from what we've heard, Coffee Bean is much more integrated into the California culture than Starbucks. Sure, Californians still go to Starbucks, but Coffee Bean is much more popular. Fair enough, since Starbucks is the go-to coffee shop in New York.

We won't be out here much longer, so we'll continue to enjoy as much Coffee Bean as possible (and maybe smuggle some on the plane - shh!). My biggest fear is that nothing will be the same once we get back to NY... but in the darkest of nights, Starbucks will be there to comfort us.

xxo, S

Mug shots

One of my really good friends is (unfortunately) one grade lower than me, so she won't be moving on to the wonderful world of college in the fall, she will be staying at home :( Oddly enough, though, she is three days older than me...

Anyway, we went to one of those paint-your-own-pottery places and made each other "friendship mugs" so we will have something when we are far apart next year. I've been pottery painting before with my family; I've made everything from a soap dish to an entire dish set. They're great memory pieces and last for years.

We went to the park afterwards

Square one: the blank slate

 

A work in progress

 

My friend loves cows so I painted one on her mug

  

The almost finished product (they will be glazed and fired).

I can't wait to see how our mugs came out!

xxo, S

Graduation

Last night, the BHS Class of 2010 said our final goodbyes as we graduated from high school.

Graduation at my school is unique because it is rife with traditions, the most obvious being the actual ceremony. Caps and gowns never make an appearance; instead, boys wear white dinner jackets and black tuxedo pants with red boutonnieres and girls wear floor length white dresses with red rose bouquets.

Class of 2010

The ceremony is also held outside every year. There have only been three instances since 1922 that the graduation has been inside. They block off the street in front of the school to minimize street noise as well, so its truly centered on the graduates and their families.

Afterwards, many families choose to attend the dinner at a country club in town for more celebration. But this is just the beginning. Although all the formal celebrations are over by 10p, there are more events of the evening. The All-Night Party starts at 11p and goes until 3a.

Blacklight theme lent to some trippy photos

Then at 3, we leave with a police escort and bagpiper to march to the next house for breakfast. Both the party and the breakfast are at houses of graduates and are pretty near each other so there isn't too much walking... but they made us take the long route so we could walk more and "revel in the experience." Really? At 3 in the morning I want to keep walking? No, I want to go to sleep. But it was a good experience anyway.

Bagpipe parade

Finally, at 5a, I went home to sleep. It was really cool to walk home from the graduation festivities and watch the sun rising on the first day of the rest of my life.

Standing in the middle of the street at 5a because we can

Being an official graduate feels fantastic!!!! I'm so excited for this summer and for college to start in the fall!

xxo, S

Instead of the beach

On Monday night at 9p, Purple and I began a search for an activity for Tuesday...
First we thought we would join some of our other friends and go to the beach. We soon realized, however, that this plan was very complicated because transporting ten people to the beach in one car - rather, without a car - was going to be very difficult. So instead, we thought about going into the city to either Central Park or Battery Park. It wasn't the ocean we were looking for; it was an open, sunny space for tanning ;)

By 10.30 we had decided on Sheep's Meadow in Central Park. But just the two of us wouldn't be very fun... so, we called up two of our other friends to join us! And then the best revelation of all: the idea to have a PICNIC! Go ahead, call it old fashioned, but we couldn't wait to spread a blanket and down some sandwiches.
Around 11, we began writing out a shopping list for picnic food: sandwich stuff, chips, watermelon, etc. Plus, of course, what picnic would be complete without some bubbles and a Frisbee? so we added those to our list, too. In just two, short hours, we were all set for the perfect day.

A perfect day in Sheep's Meadow

Laying out the blanket

I made all these sandwiches!

Lounging in the sun

Frisbee (and my sandals)

Cute people with a heart balloon

L O V E

Ever-essential watermelon - a slice of happiness

As we were running back to Grand Central to catch the last off-peak train of the afternoon, this random man asked us "Are you going to Grand Central?" "Yes..." we replied warily. "Could you walk an old lady to her train?" he asked. And being kind, young kids we said, "Sure."

Purple offered out her arm and immediately the old lady gripped it for dear life. In no time, we figured out that this woman was walking about a mile a day and at this rate, we were going to miss our train, which was just two blocks (five minutes) away.

We tried explaining our predicament to the old lady, but all she said was, "Why can't you take the next train?" We wanted to scream, "Because it's three frikkin' dollars more!!!" But we held it together.

This lady not only had trouble walking, but she was nearly blind and deaf, too. We had to warn her about every infinitesimal crack in the sidewalk. Crossing the street was life-threatening, too. We were only halfway across Madison Ave when the light changed back to red - and there we were, in the middle of the road, moving oh-so-slowly.

When we were almost (finally!) at Grand Central, we asked where she needed to go in the terminal, and she said, "Well, actually, I'm not going to Grand Central. Where I'm really trying to get to is Lexington Avenue."

GOD ALMIGHTY, SMITE ME NOW! This lady had been no brand of nice to us, made a sloth look like Usain Bolt, and now she wanted us to walk her even further??!!?! Lexington Ave was another two blocks from where we were and our train was departing in one minute.

Fuck.

In a last attempt to help the woman, I ran ahead to Grand Central to find a policeman (they're always around there) to see if someone else could walk with her. I found a woman and hastily explained that "my friend and I have this old lady - we don't know who she is - and we have to catch a train NOW... but she needs to go to Lexington. And we can't walk her... they're right over there. Could you help her (read: help us!!!!) please?"

I later realized that I don't think I mentioned how slowly the lady walked. Anyway, the policewoman kindly took her off our hands (literally) and we sprinted down to the train...

...only to see it chugging slowly away from the platform.

After buying some chocolate-hazelnut gelato (yum!) and venting/trying to figure out what just happened, we trudged to the next scheduled train, which would now cost us three more dollars (peak fare). Once on board, we wondered if the conductor would let the fee slide if we explained our nonsensical story to him... and he did!

Thank you, God.

Lesson learned: do not help old ladies

xxo, S

note: I am not very religious in the slightest. The two mentions of God were mere exclamations of frustration and joy

note: it should have taken us five minutes to get to GCT from where we met the old lady. Instead, it took us fifteen minutes.

note: not all old ladies are slow and spiteful. However, the attitude of this particular woman did not leave us with anything but anger towards her.

question: how does this woman get about her daily life?

Yearbooks

I only have to go to school one day this week (today) and it's just fun stuff: getting yearbooks!

This year it is dedicated to my math teacher and the theme is the circus. I think it's the best yearbook I've ever had. The letters and some detailing on the front are raised, too, making it extra special.

The funniest part of the yearbook was the "Prophecies" page. One of my friends, Quiggles, prophecy was that she was gonna be sitting in the bagel store with her best friend... probably true, but very silly. Mine was "professional event planner," which I thought was more serious, though. I spent the better part of the afternoon getting my friends' and teachers' signatures. It's sad to think I won't be doing this a year from now, but it's also refreshing to go through all the pages with pictures from not only senior year, but middle school as well. I'm really excited to read all my signatures/well wishes and look at all the pictures!

Five days 'til graduation!!!

xxo, S

First college course

So, I've gotta pick my first college course (First-Year Seminar Courses [FSEM]) by this Wednesday.
I'm SUPER excited about this because, well, it's my first course in college! But I'm also really nervous: what if I pick a really difficult, or really boring class? What if I register incorrectly? What if the professor sucks?? The kicker is that your professor for your FSEM is also your academic advisor for your whole freshman year, and I want a class with someone who's going to be a really good advisor as well as a good teacher. DU has a wide variety of  to choose from, though, so I'm sure I'll find something.

I've narrowed it down to the following:
"Censorship, Free Speech, and Literature"
"Controversy in American Culture"
"The Fascination of Evil"
"Food, Culture, and Communication"
"Food Fights; Food Solutions"
"From Lyric to Lyrics: Poetry Then and Now"
"The Geography of Food: Eating to Live and Living to Eat"
"Globalized Religion"
"The Human Condition: Study of Emotion through Literature, Visual Art, and Music"
"Human Flourishing: The Art and Science of Happiness"

Discoveries Orientation at DU

"(Inter)National Queer Identities"
"Introduction to Forensic Science and Real Life CSI"
" 'It's Not Drawn on Any Map': Reading and Writing Travel"
"Justice, Morality, and Philosophy Go To The Movies"
"Personal Histories of Photography"
"Politics & Memoir"
"Social Problems in Cinema"
" 'Things That Go Bump In the Night': The Supernatural and the Popular Imagination"
"Utopia, Distopia, and the End of the World"
"Why and How South Africa?"
"You Are What You Eat: A Course in Food Chemistry"
"Youth Cultures: Inequality, Resistance, and Empowerment"

Whew, that's a heck of a starting point!
What do you think will be most interesting?
xxo, S

Review of Senior Week

Last Friday was the last day of classes for the Senior Class of 2010.
Although we haven't graduated yet, we also don't have classes. This free time gave us a whole week devoted to community service and lecture learning.

Monday kicked off with a special viewing of Traffic (2000) and followed by a discussion of drug trafficking and drug laws, including political issues and public opinions. A former special agent, who had seen drug violence first-hand and helped to confiscate drugs, also joined our discussion. In the afternoon, the whole class had lunch and a pool party at the BFC, which would have been nicer if it hadn't been so overcast and chilly (72 degrees!).
Tuesday began with a presentation on juvenile law. This was really interesting because it the scenarios were all relatable. They were situations in which we might find ourselves in as we begin college in the next few months. We learned about our rights as minors, and the responsibilities we will have once we turn eighteen. Then we spent a few hours teaching senior citizens about computers - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. - and cell phones. Most of them weren't there for the computer aspect so much, so it was nice to talk to them. There was one lady originally from Wisconsin who was almost eighty-six and served in the Navy in WW2! She had really cool stories.
Wednesday took us on a trip to the Andrus Children's Center. We helped out in their field day activities: the morning had long jump, basketball, shuttle run, and other outdoor games; the afternoon had more indoor activities. I oversaw the long jump and, later, beading (made three really cool bracelets!). Andrus is a school and home for kids who can't live at home for any variety of reasons (i.e. abuse, emotional or learning disability), so this was an especially meaningful day.
Thursday was a Things-you-need-to-know-that-no-one-ever-taught-you Day. The morning consisted of two one-hour safety sessions. The first one taught us how to make sure our possessions, friends, and selves are safe on and off campus. And we got really cool whistles... The second was a crash-course in self-defense. In the afternoon, we had six stations at Village Hall which taught us various other aspects of safety (fires, first aid, and cars) and general things-you-never-knew-about-college information (nutrition, professors, and dorms).

Today we had the day off, so I've been chilling with my baby brother. We got some coffee (at least, I did) and cool balloons.

Isn't that the coolest shape ever?

Only eight days until graduation!
xxo, S

Blossom-less cherries are just as pretty!

After babysitting today, I got to pick some of the surplus cherries from the family's yard. These aren't any ordinary cherries, however. These, my friends, are super sour cherries, best baked into a heavy cake, like pound cake or thick, yummy chocolate cake (obviously a favourite).

All I've got left to do is pit these babies and they're ready for dessert!
xxo, S

A distinguished group

So for those of you who don't go to school in New York State, the NYSSMA [n-ISS-ma] Festival is where  school orchestras, choirs, or bands go to perform musical pieces for judges who then give them a score.  Groups can earn either bronze, silver, gold, or the highly-coveted gold with distinction.

I have been in my school string orchestra for four years, and I began playing the viola in second grade. But when my orchestra went again to NYSSMA last week, I was unsure about how we would do. I didn't feel like our pieces were as strong as they could be - but I knew we would do our best.

So we showed up, played our three songs, and then awaited our score. To our surprise, we snagged gold with distinction! Our director, DL, couldn't have been prouder, and neither could we. This was my third time receiving the distinguished honour (the fourth time we only got silver) and I'm so glad I can leave school with that sort of flourish. I have a lot of confidence in the underclassmen who will take over the orchestra next year, too.

String Orchestra 2010

Last night was our concert for the parents. We went on after the sixth/seventh grade orchestra and the eighth grade orchestra. When we got on stage, our performance was like we said, "Okay, this is how it's really done." Today, in celebration of our two excellent performances, DL made us cupcakes (her other award-winning talent) and we listened to the recording of our performance and the judges' comments. The cupcakes were dee-lish! as always. And the judges' comments were "nice" (one guy said nice ninety-two times in his comments!).

Who knows when I will play the viola next, but it certainly won't be the same as the past ten years I've spent learning and performing with my peers.
xxo, S

Owning-a-pool etiquette

This Memorial Day weekend was super hot and humid. It was a perfect weekend for going to the pool or the beach. And if you are lucky enough to own a pool, you were probably nice and cool.

However, for those of us who do not have such refreshing bodies of water in our backyards, we remained sweaty and sticky all weekend.

But hey, pool-owner, wouldn't you kindly invite a non-pool-owner over for the day? Or even just the afternoon? Here is the proper etiquette for owning a pool:

1. If you are having a party, invite lots of people!

This way you can be sure all non-pool-owners will attend. They will be so grateful to have been invited, they will probably be the best guests you have ever had. And to be sure, they will definitely enjoy your pool.

2. Whenever the thermometer goes over 78, invite everyone you know!

(Or in extremely humid conditions, 70) Anyone who is the least bit human will be burning up in this heat and dying for the chance to jump in a pool. If it happens to be your pool, everyone will be at your beck and call for saving them from the ugly, hot weather.

3. If parties or entertaining is not your cup of tea, do not invest in a pool!

Owning a pool and not having people over makes you seem selfish and anti-social; and then, no one will want to hang out with you. Unless you are a super secret spy and need this sort of protection from having friends, this is probably not the image you want to have.

When I finally own a pool, I will be sure to abide by these rules. Until then, it is up to you, pool-owners of the world.

xxo, S